Out With the Old

The clock is ticking away the last few hours of 2012, and there's nothing we can do about what has happened this year.

In wondering what I could do differently next year to improve my life, I thought about something I probably should have done long ago.

In the new year of 2013, I want to get rid of thoughts and concepts that just haven't worked for me in the past.

In quilting, this means I need to quit being so picky about my own work.

It’s good to be your best and always strive to do better, but at some point you have to say that the work is done and you don’t have to go any further so stop fussing with it.

If you always think there’s something else that you should do to make it better, that means you don’t think your work is finished yet, that it’s not good enough.  That’s not a good feeling, and it sometimes keeps me from starting new projects or even trying to complete old ones.

There are many great quilters that I admire, and they produce some of the most beautiful and perfect quilts anyone can possibly imagine. I could look at those quilts all day long. I seriously doubt that my own work will ever come close to what they do, and that's just fine. My quilts are meant to be used to keep people warm and comfortable, not to be put on display in competitions or museums.

My customers like my work and they are the ones whose opinions count. I like most of my work as well. That doesn't mean that I won't try to get better at quilting, it just means that I'll quit being quite so hard on myself if every square inch of my stitching isn't perfect or if a design doesn’t turn out like I imagined it would.

 There's an old saying, "My house is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be happy." I think I'll adapt that to say, "My quilting is precise enough to be pretty and 'off' enough to be comfortable."

Happy New Year, everyone!

Happy stitching!

Betty
http://TopAnchorQuilting.com